Prague, part 2 (ish)

We arrived tired and well, tired mostly. Klara's dad and Milan's mum met us at the train station (where our bus arrived) at half noon and he took our bags in his trunk and she walked us into town. We waited at her office for a few minutes and Klara's younger sister Anna met us with her friend Ester. The 5 of us walked about for the remainder of the afternoon, stopping to wander about in a shopping mall (nicer than most I've seen in the states) and eventually caught a tram home for the evening. After dinner and a quick nap (just me, there's also video proof of me snoring...), we (Lee, Anna, Matt, Ester and I) walked down to a pub nearby for some authentic Czech beer, and paid a considerable amount less than had we been in Strasbourg. The next morning we walked through town with Anna and her parents. We got to see Wensensloss (spelled so incorrectly here it hurts) square, old town, the churches of saints Michael and Nicholas, and of Our Lady of Tyń. The old town hall tower has an astrological clock and each hour there is a procession of the apostles through two little doors above the clock. After that we crossed St Charles bridge, and hopped a tram up to Prague Castle. We stopped for lunch at a brewery called St Norbert's, which used to be run by the monks. I think it was somewhere around 400 years old. Prague castle was massive, and wrapped around the gothic cathedral in the center. The cathedral was built over a span of about 1000 years, with work finishing in the 1800s. Next we walked up to an observation tower modeled after The Eiffel Tower. When I say up, I mean it. Not only was it on one of many hills around Prague, the lift was broken so we walked the 300 stairs up to the top, which swayed considerably more than the Eiffel tower. Granted it was 1/5 scale, you could see most of Prague from it and at night the city is beautiful. The cathedral at Prague castle is flooded with light.

We (the lads) went out downtown that night and tried some different Czech beers and had a generally banterous evening.

The next morning we got up and went to a castle outside Prague built by Charles IV and further fortified once he became Holy Roman Emperor. It started a foggy morning, so much so that the trip there was actually a but bothersome, but might have been cos I prefer driving. Funny story about the ride there: Milan's parents took one car and Klara's took another. Anna and ester rode with Milan's parents, and Klara's mom suggested that matt go with them. Lee and I sat comfortably in the back of Klara's dad's car while Matt sat squished with Anna and Ester. We figure that Klara's mom was trying to start somehing between Ester and Matt, because Lee is the best fit for a crowded back seat, seeing as he's smaller...

After the long walk up we could finally make out the shape of the castle. In a stroke of luck, the fog broke right before our tour began. We had a joker for a tourguide. We couldn't tell when he was just making stuff up or when he was being serious. He ended the tour with something similar to this: "merry Christmas, happy new year, and the world is small so maybe I'll see you again" he also claimed that it was possible that the portraits of former Czech rulers might have just been made up, since a certain one was the first we had a real historical account of. After that we drove back and has dinner at the house. The lads and ladettes went out after and went bowling (at the same place we were the first night) and then came home and played cards for a bit.

The next morning we said our goodbyes and headed out into town around 10. We just walked around for a bit, and hopped on our bus at 13:30 and have been on the move since. It's been pleasant travels but just as it is at home, I prefer travelling at night cos then you don't lose as much in theway of active time. Travelling by trains at night is actually awesome because you get to sleep AND get to your destination, unless you get stuck in an uncomfortable recliner. I am obviously not still bitter about that...

It's dark in Karlsruhe. Nothing else to report!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone